The (Second) Battle Between David and Goliath: The Times May Have Changed – But The Result Hasn’t – Part I

While I apologize for the long pause between posts, it just couldn’t be helped. Simply put, it was much more important that I spend as much time as possible writing my book, Embracing Cancer–Embracing Life, rather than taking a day, or more, each week creating a blog post. It was actually a fairly easy choice to make, because, although the blog will provide useful insight and entertaining stories, my book will provide guidance and comfort to those living with cancer, as well as, to their families, close friends and loved ones as they continue their journey.

Now that the book is completed (it’s currently being edited and tentatively scheduled for an October publication date), I can pick-up where I left off with the blog. Each week or, perhaps more often, you’ll find a new post on this site (www.embracingcancer-embracinglife.com), which I trust will challenge your concepts of what is and what can be. I hope you’ll become emotionally caught up as you read tales of my harrowing and magnificent journey with cancer and be profoundly strengthened in your connection to your spirit-self. My journey has done all of these things for me, I truly hope it will have a similar effect on you.

So let’s begin anew with the first email I sent to my friends and family following my very first round of chemotherapy in May of 2013. My body’s reaction to the chemotherapy drugs was nothing short of amazing, literally millions of Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cancer Cells were killed, hour-after-hour. Each morning in the hospital, I would walk into the bathroom to shower rolling my IV pole behind me. I’d look into the mirror and be astonished at the changes that had taken place overnight!

After I was released from the hospital, I found myself lying in bed at night thinking about how best to describe, to those on my email list, exactly how I was feeling. Then, out of the blue, it hit me; since most everyone refers to those with cancer as, “fighting or battling,” why not write a synopsis of that battle, both past and present, using television sportscasters to describe the action and giving their assessment of my chances of survival.

You might notice something interesting, I do not speak a single word in this email, I let the sportscasters do all of the talking. I wanted those who read the email to recognize that physically I was doing fantastically well, through the fictional words of three of the greatest commentators who have ever lived, and to look beyond those words to discover how I was doing emotionally and spiritually. Judging from the many responses I received in the days following, I hit the nail on the head. Enjoy.

Bob Costas: “Ladies and gentlemen, this week we have witnessed a tremendous battle of what I’ll call determination versus inevitability. Yes…and this time somehow, someway, the challenger, Larry, who I’ll refer to as “determination” found a way to pull out a victory…and regardless of how brief the celebration may be, it is a victory nonetheless. Overcoming the natural advantages that our champion, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, brings to every match, Larry battled toe-to-toe for five days and five nights, until MCL threw his gloves up in disgust screaming “No Mas” and left the ring (hospital bed). Oh, don’t misunderstand me, we have a long, long way to go, after all, thiswas just the eighth round of a scheduled fifteen rounder, but if this is how Larry intends to fight MCL from this point forward, you might want to put down that remote control and grab yourself some popcorn. For more insight and a little perspective, let’s go down to ringside (bedside) to our own Larry Merchant and Charles Barkley…Gentlemen.”

Larry Merchant: “Thank you Bob…Larry Merchant here, along with my Hall of Fame partner Charles Barkley…well, what more can I add? As you know, pre-fight, I predicted that the champ, after toying with our challenger for the first seven rounds, would finally knock Larry out for the count…hang him out to dry, like wet bed sheets on a Kansas clothesline. Frankly, Larry didn’t look good heading into this one…his recent weight loss, along with the pounding he’s taken in previous rounds, added up to disaster in my mind. Charles what’s your take on this astonishing turn of events?”